


The Basque System

by nu-exo (Nekohime)



Category: Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff, M/M, Minhyun is a NERD, Secret Crush, did some research on chess and didn't even end up using most of it, sports anime cliches are my favorite so, they're all nerds really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-21
Updated: 2019-07-21
Packaged: 2020-07-10 08:42:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19902943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nekohime/pseuds/nu-exo
Summary: Minhyun was the best.  At least, that's what he'd thought.(Alternatively, sometimes life IS like a sports anime.)





	The Basque System

**Author's Note:**

> A oneshot for Seasons of 4walls. It was supposed to be 1k max, but, well, things don't always go as planned.
> 
> To my friend who actually went to boarding school and beta'd for me even though this isn't her ship: love youuu lol.
> 
> That being said, enjoy!
> 
> Basque System or Basque Chess - A chess competition in which the players simultaneously play each other two games on two boards.

“Mother _ fucker _ ,” Minhyun groaned, looking up at the gray winter sky as if that would change the sight in front of him.

“Again?” Jonghyun snorted, the sound vaguely muffled by the scarf wrapped around his neck and mouth.

“Again,” Minhyun sighed. “I just- I don’t even-” he made a frustrated noise high in the back of his throat, running a gloved hand through his hair. They’d be late for their morning class if they didn’t start walking now, but Minhyun couldn’t bring himself to care. “ _ How? _ I was sure he didn’t have any moves left! How the fuck did he pull this off?”

He didn’t need to see the lower half of Jonghyun’s face to know his friend was grinning, laughing at his pain. His tone was heavy with amusement when he spoke. “Guess there really  _ is _ someone better than you after all.”

“Oh no there fucking isn’t,” Minhyun grumbled, eyes set firmly on their school’s giant chess board, burning holes into where the white king —  _ his _ white king — had been cornered, the smoothest Arabian mate he’d seen in a while. 

“He’s beaten you how many times again? Ten?” Jonghyun teased.

“Eight, two were draws,” Minhyun answered on reflex.  _ But really, who was counting? _

“Uh-huh.” Jonghyun tried to cover up his laugh with a cough, nearly choking in the process.  _ Good riddance, _ Minhyun thought like the petty child he supposedly wasn’t. “Think they’d be willing to join the club?” Jonghyun asked, innocently enough. “We could use someone on his level.”

“Fuck you,” was Minhyun’s sharp reply.

He walked over to the board, moving the pieces all back into place in set-up for a new game. They were going to be late, but Jonghyun was student council president, debate team captain and was practically confirmed to be valedictorian, while Minhyun was the school’s prized whiz kid — they could afford the tardy.

“There,” Minhyun said, more to himself than anyone else as he made his first move, teeth chattering ever so slightly from the cold. He glared at the black king as if that would somehow get the message across to whoever was playing against him. “Give me your best fucking shot.”

  
  


♖

  
  


Minhyun was, for all intents and purposes, a genius. His IQ was 170, he absorbed information like a sponge, and things just tended to  _ make sense _ for him. Despite all that, to the lament of his parents, he cared more about playing chess ( _ “Like a nerd,” Minki shouted, cupping his hands in place of a bullhorn. _ ) than perfect grades.

“It makes sense,” Jonghyun had said, sprawled out on the grass in Dennings quad the spring of their sophomore year. “You can memorize formations, but at the end of the day chess makes you think, it forces you to get creative to out-play someone who knows just as many tricks.”

Minhyun had hummed in agreement even as he’d thought that he just liked it because it was fun. Simple as that.

  
  


♖

  
  


“You like the challenge, and you really like winning,” Seongwu snorted, copying down Minhyun’s math homework before class like a man possessed. “That’s the only reason this is becoming such a big deal.”

“It is not,” Minhyun pouted, chin propped up on his hand.

“Oho,” Seongwu managed to tease, eyes not even leaving the two papers he was looking between. “That sounds like a lie, Hwang.”

“It’s not,” Minhyun defended, voice cracking. He winced, sighing. “I mean, not entirely?”

“Sure,” Seongwu drawled. “Figured out who it is yet?”

Minhyun groaned, flopping onto his desk, startling the junior two rows over who’d been indiscreetly trying to take pictures of him and Seongwu for the school’s gossip section for the past twenty minutes and counting. 

“No. All I have are his initials from the sign-up system they put in place so people wouldn’t butt in on an already going match.”

“Shame,” Seongwu said, not even bothering to try and sound sympathetic. If anything he sounded like he was smiling.

Minhyun tilted his head, peeking over his arm. Yup, smiling. 

_ I need better friends. _

“You wouldn’t happen to know who it is, would you?”

“Who, me?” Seongwu asked. “Why would I know who your Mystery Chess Master is?”

“He’s not a master,” Minhyun said on reflex, sitting back up in his seat, eyes narrowed. There was just something about Seongwu’s tone… “You sure you don’t have any idea of who it might be?”

“Nope.” Minhyun stared at him, looking for any sort of tell, any sign that he was lying.  _ Aha. _ The very tips of Seongwu’s ears were slowly turning red, the fingers of his left hand twitching.  _ There it is. _ “No clue.”

“ _ Liar _ .”

Seongwu finally looked up at him, indecision flashing across his face for a beat before he gave up the act and allowed a cheshire like grin to pull at his lips. “Pity you can’t prove it.”

“You’re an awful friend,” Minhyun complained. “You don’t deserve my homework.”

Seongwu squawked, snatching the papers he was copying from to his chest and leaning back so fast he almost went toppling over, nearly taking out a half asleep junior with his flailing. “Please. I need this. I’m not like you. I can’t math.”

Minhyun rolled his eyes. He had half a mind to wrestle his homework back from Seongwu — he could do it, too, he actually exercised unlike the other boy — but his homework would probably rip in the process, and he saw no reason why his work should be collateral.

“Whatever,” Minhyun huffed, “Write fast, I’m taking that back when Mrs. Somner comes in.”

Seongwu beamed, eyes just watery enough to make them twinkle, and launched himself at Minhyun with an exaggerated sob, smacking a wet kiss on Minhyun’s cheek.

“Ew-  _ Seongwu _ ,” Minhyun whined.

“Love you,” Seongwu sing-songed, going back to copying at the speed-of-light.

Minhyun faced forward again with a huff, staring at the whiteboard, zoning out, his mind spiraling out in multiple directions all at once.

He’d bother Seongwu about his anonymous opponent later. Maybe even figure it out himself. There weren’t  _ that _ many people in their school. Not that many who could play such a complex game, at the very least. How hard could it actually be?

  
  


♖

  
  


“Did you know our humble boarding school of choice has a student body of just over a thousand students, with about three hundred more driving in from their homes?”

Dongho and Minki stared at Minhyun like he’d grown an extra head.

“What?”

“The stress of losing finally broke him,” Minki mock whispered, eyeing Minhyun with his trademark blend of pity and horror.

Dongho nodded along, taking a monstrous bite from his sandwich — the second of today’s lunch.  _ A jock’s diet at it’s finest. _

“I take offense to that,” Minhyun sniffed. “I’ve just been doing a little light research is all.”

“Uh-huh.” Minki raised one well groomed eyebrow. “Remind me again, exactly how many times have you lost to this guy, now?” 

“Twelve, with five draws,” Minhyun easily answered, “But that’s besides the point. I just want to know who it is at this. That’s all.”

Dongho swallowed down his food. “You sure it’s not someone in the Chess Club?”

“Trust me,” Jonghyun snorted from where he’d supposedly been napping, using Minhyun’s blazer as a pillow and his own organic chem textbook to cover his eyes. “It’s not. There’s no way we wouldn’t notice someone that could play like that.”

“I mean-”

Jonghyun laughed, kicking out a foot blindly to get Minhyun’s leg. “Don’t even try. Whoever this is, they’re running circles around you.”

“They are not,” Minhyun grumbled under his breath, stabbing at the salad he’d gotten from the dining hall.

“Besides,” Jonghyun continued, ignoring the other boy, “we don’t have anyone with the initials D.K. in our club.”

Dongho frowned, blinking at the two of them. “Wait, how do you know their initials?”

“Whoever it is had to write them down on a piece of paper to claim their spot,” Minhyun explained. “It’s the system put in place to use the giant board, since there used to be fights over people interfering in ongoing games,” he held up a finger, narrowing his eyes at Dongho, “and don’t you dare say ‘nerd fights’.”

Dongho held up his hands in surrender, smile pushing at his cheeks and shoulders shaking with barely restrained mirth.

“Hold on a second,” Minki cut in, “You know this guy’s initials and it’s still this difficult to figure out who it is?”

Minhyun gave Minki a deadpan stare. “There are twenty-five students with the initials D.K. in the freshman year alone,” he raised an eyebrow, “Want to know how many are in all the other grades?”

Minki grimaced. “No, I’m good. You’ve made your point.”

  
  


♖

  
  


“Maybe he’s flirting with you.”

Minhyun looked up from where he’d been reading through Jihoon’s essay. “What?”

“Whoever you’re playing against,” Jihoon explained, slowly. “Maybe he’s flirting with you.”

Minhyun smothered the urge to swat at the younger boy for speaking to him like he was eighty and hard of hearing, letting out an unattractive snort. “Why would you think that?”

“Well, you’re attractive, first of all. There’s a small fanclub of mostly underclassmen that get together every other week to talk about how you styled your hair during Trig, or how the uniform looks like a choice on you.” He paused, taking a sip from his juice pouch — contraband in the library, where they’d decided to meet for this week’s tutoring session. “Second of all,” he continued in the face of the Minhyun’s mildly horrified,  _ “I have a what now?” _ , “Why else would someone keep playing the same person again, and again, and again, when they’ve already won more than once?”

“Pettiness.”

“Okay,” Jihoon scoffed, “Let’s try this again. Why would someone —  _ who’s not you _ — do all that?”

Minhyun rolled his eyes, crossing out a sentence and making a note in the margins of the sophomore’s paper. “It’s not flirting.”

“Me thinks the lady doth protest too much,” Jihoon snickered, doing an absolutely awful British accent.

“And that,” Minhyun slid the marked up essay back across the table, capping his red pen, “is not the right use of that line.”

Jihoon glanced at his paper, teasing smile dropping off his face from one second to the next. “No,” he whined, too loud for the library. “Why is there so much red?”

Minhyun twirled his pen between his fingers, smiling sweetly at the younger boy. “Maybe if you didn’t wait until the last minute for every paper, and  _ actually paid attention in class _ instead of plotting inane pranks with Woojin there’d be less mark-ups.”

Jihoon glared, lips pushed out in a pout. “Everyone who thinks you’re some kind of prince is blind.  _ Blind _ .”

Minhyun snorted, gathering his stuff together. “Good luck,” he sing-songed. “And it is  _ not _ flirting.”

  
  


♖

  
  


It wasn’t flirting.  _ It wasn’t _ . But, maybe,  _ just maybe _ , it was working.

“And to think your parents sent you to an all boys boarding school to keep you  _ away _ from the distraction of crushes,” Jonghyun mused, dropping onto the bench next to Minhyun.

“I think we just recreated The Brilliancy Prize,” Minhyun frowned at the oversized chess board. “I didn’t even notice.”

Jonghyun snorted. “Isn’t it a bit cliched to fall for the person that’s better than you at something? Pretty sure that’s the plot of, like, every sports manga ever.”

“Technically not what happens,” Minhyun muttered off-handedly, eyes still fixed ahead.

“Excuse you,” Jonghyun scoffed, “You don’t even read sports manga, what would you know?”

“Think it’d be too much effort to try asking every D.K. in school if they play chess?” Minhyun asked in place of a response.

Jonghyun snorted. “As opposed to leaving a note? Like a normal person?”

Minhyun blinked, turning to his friend with wide eyes.

“Don’t look at me with that ‘I just had an epiphany’ face,” Jonghyun laughed, smushing his hand into Minhyun’s cheek. “I can’t believe, out of all your options, you never thought of just leaving a note.  _ How _ are you a genius?”

“Being a genius doesn’t help you people properly,” Minhyun whined, digging through his bag for a scrap piece of paper and a pen.

“I’m gonna ignore you just said that, and don’t forget to mention in your note that you have a big fat crush on their mind, you nerd.”

“I don’t have a crush!” Minhyun made a little victory trill, hopping over to the board, crouching to use it as a flat surface to write on. He was glad there weren’t other students around at this time to witness the spectacle they made shouting back and forth. “And you don’t get to call me that. You’re literally the captain of the Chess Club  _ and _ you binge watch anime while working on research papers.”

“It’s good background noise,” Jonghyun sniffed. “You should write little hearts on it.”

“I- No!” Minhyun blew onto his fingers, regretting having forgotten his gloves that morning. “It’s not a crush! It’s just-” he made a gurgling noise, trying to come up with the right word, “acknowledgement. I’m acknowledging his skill as my rival.”

“Pretty sure ‘rival’ is synonymous to crush in situations like these,” Jonghyun commented innocently.

“We do not live in a sports anime,” Minhyun sighed.

“Coward!”

Minhyun rolled his eyes, twirling his pen between his fingers. He bit his lip, waffling on what to write before deciding that simple would be best.

_ Good game. _

Innocuous enough, right? Minhyun tucked the note into the box used for name slips and made his way back over to Jonghyun, ignoring his friend’s off-tune singing about how,  _ “Baby Minhyun has a crush~” _ .

There was nothing wrong with wanting to tell his mystery rival that they played a good game. It was sporting. Minhyun was just admiring skill and a mind that matched his own.

Between an upcoming chess tournament and college apps, he didn’t have the time for crushes anyway.

  
  


♖

  
  


_ thanks! you too! _

  
  


♖

  
  


“A little birdie tells me you’re exchanging notes with your mystery dude, now?” Seongwu opened with during lunch, arriving at their usual table in a cloud of hairspray and make-up.

“Drama club?” Minki snorted.

“Shakespeare,” Seongwu sighed, dropping his chin onto his fist. “As usual.”

“You don’t get to complain,” Jihoon huffed, taking up the seat across from him, similarly done up. “At least you get to be lead.”

Seongwu grinned. “Perks of seniority. Better luck next year.”

Jihoon grumbled something under his breath that sounded an awful lot like a threat, but Seongwu barely paid him any mind, returning his attention to Minhyun with a forboding leer.

“So, notes?”

“It’s been, like, two notes only,” Minhyun defended, heat crawling up his neck. “Like I told  _ Minki and Jonghyun _ , nothing’s happened.”

“Hmm,” Seongwu regarded him like a cat feigning disinterest, “That sounds like a lie to me.”

“It’s not,” Minhyun huffed, voice betraying him and cracking. Dongho, Jonghyun, and Minki snorted.  _ Traitors _ .

“Sure, sure.” Seongwu picked a fry from Jihoon’s tray, giving the younger boy a winsome smile in return to his murderous glare. “So, I guess you wouldn’t mind sharing them then.”

“Sharing what?”

Seongwu’s smile widened. “The notes.”

“So you can pick them apart and make fun of me?” Minhyun snorted. “Nice try.”

“So you admit there’s something worth making fun of?” Dongho asked, pouncing on the opening Minhyun had inadvertently created like a lion after its prey.

“I didn’t say that.”

“You kind of insinuated it though,” Jihoon chipped in, like the horrible child he was. 

Minhyun flared at him, eyes narrowed. “I tutor you for  _ free _ every week and  _ this _ is the thanks I get?” 

Jihoon held his hands up in surrender, cheeks full of food like a squirrel’s. “Just sayin’.”

“Maybe one of us’ll recognize the hand writing,” Jonghyun offered.

A perfectly reasonable possibility and therefore that much harder to turn down.

Minhyun let out an exasperated huff. He wasn’t lying, he’d only exchanged a few notes with his self-dubbed rival. And there really wasn’t anything juicy in them. They were just...personal. They were simple compliments, but incredibly heartfelt coming from Minhyun, who rarely had a chance to speak with someone as an equal about his pastime of choice.

Which is what they’d been doing. Speaking as equals. And maybe that left Minhyun a little flustered, a little off-kilter. That wasn’t for anyone else to see.

“It’d be quicker if Seongwu just  _ told _ me,” he said, tone prim as he started collecting his trash into an easily manageable pile. For once, he was actually happy to have British Lit after lunch. “Maybe you can help out and interrogate him instead of me.”

“Feisty,” Dongho teased.

“You know who it is?” Minki asked, immediately perking up and turning all his attention on Seongwu, zeroing in on what was clearly the  _ important _ information.

Seongwu hummed, drumming his fingers against the table top, eyes gleaming in a way that spelled nothing good. “Maybe.”

Jonghyun snorted. “Well that’s a yes.”

Seongwu shrugged. “Eh, it’s a maybe.”

“And if I offered to let you copy off my Chem homework?” Minki tried, tone lilting up at the end.

“Then the answer is yes.” Seongwu beamed. He turned to Minhyun, batting his eyes up at him as the other boy stood to leave. “It could be a yes for you too if you let me read the notes.”

Minhyun sniffed, pride and resolve too strong to be swayed by his curiosity at this point. “You fucking wish.”

Seongwu’s grin turned just a touch too knowing, the reasons behind which Minhyun didn’t really want to consider. “Pity. Well, if you ever want to know, you know where to find me.”

  
  


♖

  
  


_ didn’t expect that move! guess you got your first win lol _

_ Is that meant to be a brag?? _

_ no, no, no! lol sorry, my friends tell me i use ‘lol’ too much, but that was a genuine congrats!! _

_ Oh, thanks then. To be honest, it wasn’t easy. You’re really good. _

_ thanks man! you are too! you get better with like, every game??? _

_ Thanks...checkmate in 5 by the way. _

  
  


♖

  
  


Time, like it tended to do when you least wanted it to, passed by quickly. College applications and end of semester projects were fast approaching, coming at them all like a massive wave with the freedom of winter break at the end if they survived. It left the senior classes buzzing with a tension so thick it was almost tangible. No one was spared, each person trying to shore up their applications and portfolios for whatever program they were planning to apply to. Seongwu spent more and more time sequestered away in the theatre room. Jonghyun, who despite his grades and academic accolades wanted to go to art school and didn’t have to apply until a little later, was bulking up his portfolio, hands covered with charcoal or paint more often than not. Minki buried himself in studying, and Dongho trapped himself in one of the music practice rooms with nothing but sheet music and composition notes for the music theory elective he both loved to death and regretted taking.

Minhyun, stress mounting in a way that he was all-too-familiar with, found himself retreating to the green where the giant chess board was with growing frequency.

He’d stare at the pieces, visualizing moves and counter moves when his attention span for reading over class notes eventually ran out. He’d sometimes use the time to go over the notes he’d exchanged with his anonymous opponent, thinking over the little bits of information he’d naturally gathered from the other boy through their conversations, the tid bits that were slowly coming together to paint a larger picture.

_ sorry about not making my next move yet, I was slammed with an essay for Mr. Burns that I left until the last second _

Mr. Burns taught AP Language Comp to juniors only, so whoever was playing against him was a year below, and apparently didn’t care all that much about proper punctuation ( _ Minki snorted, “You’re the only person I know who writes notes to people with everything properly capitalized and grammar checked.” _ ).

_ I think I could go another ten years without having to learn about ready made art and it’s “validity in the field” _

He was taking Art History and liked to doodle on every slip of paper he left behind. Sometimes a cartoony face. Sometimes cats...usually cats. And, sometimes little hearts.

Those were starting to become Minhyun’s favorites in direct connection to how common they were becoming — something he’d deny if his friends ever caught wind of it — usually tagged on after his mystery boy’s initials.

Minhyun huffed out a small laugh, his breath puffing out white in the cold, snow-damp air around him. He’d gone from frustrated to infatuated with the boy that was beating him in the span of two months. 

Minki would say he called it. Jonghyun and Dongho would say they weren’t surprised. Jihoon, and by extension his demon of a cousin Woojin — who Minhyun was actually extremely fond of — would probably laugh. And Seongwu…

Minhyun scrunched his nose. Seongwu knew who was on the other end of all this and seemed perfectly content not telling. His reaction, if he knew Minhyun  _ had _ developed a crush after all his whining and complaining, would likely be the worst. Unpredictable and guaranteed to be annoying.

Minhyun closed up his textbooks and ripped off a corner of notebook paper, the cold finally getting to him enough that he had to head in for warmth. He jotted down his note, trying not to overthink what he was writing, reminding himself that it was an innocent enough request and they were at a point of civil maybe-friendship that it was totally normal to ask.

His ears burned as he slipped the note into the name box and moved one of his white pawns forward. A stalling move, like they’d both been playing lately after months of aggressive attack based games.

_ No big deal _ , Minhyun told himself.  _ No big deal. _

  
  


♖

  
  


_ I was wondering if you maybe wanted to meet before winter break starts, face to face? Figured talking like that might be quicker than talking like this haha _

_ oh! I would, but I’m really swamped with work rn because I’m actually leaving for break early, have plans with my family...sorry, maybe after? _

_ Oh, okay. Sounds good. Have fun on your trip! _

  
  


♖

  
  


“You’re an idiot,” Seongwu said, blunt in a way only he ever was. A way that left Minhyun feeling offended but also cared for.

“‘M not,” Minhyun grumbled from where he’d wrapped himself up with blankets on the couch.

They’d been marathoning Marvel movies at his place, his parents away on a trip to Germany leaving the whole house to themselves. Seongwu, who’s own house — just as large and only a few streets over — had been invaded by just about every relative he knew, and had offered to supply the food if Minhyun would take him in for a few nights.

( _ “I’m dying, Min.  _ Dying _.” _

_ “Fine,” Minhyun sighed, phone lying on his face. “Just gotta warn you there’s nothing to eat or drink here right now.” _

_ “Say no more! Be over in thirty!” _ )

So, here he was, eating food on Minhyun’s couch, wearing a spare set of Minhyun’s sweat pants, in  _ Minhyun’s home _ , calling him an idiot.

“You’re the dumbest smart person I know. You managed to beat out Jonghyun, a true feat right there. Congrats.”

Minhyun made a disgruntled grunt, kicking out a foot blindly until he connected with the other boy’s thigh. “Fuck you, get out of my house.”

“No thanks,” Seongwu pushed his foot away. “I’m comfortable right where I am.”

“Can’t believe you’re bullying me in my own home.”

“I’m just speaking the truth.” He crammed a handful of kettle corn into his mouth. “I mean, you’re sulking over a boy you don’t even known, who’s apparently an even  _ bigger _ idiot than you.” 

He frowned, swallowed, shoved another handful in, nearly choking this time around. Minhyun snorted.

“I can sulk if I want to, besides,” Minhyun wriggled into a seated position, shimmying a hand out of his blanket burrito to help himself to the bowl in Seongwu’s lap, “I don’t get why  _ you’re _ getting so worked up about it. It’s not like you have anything to do with it.”

“Because I told that idiot to man up and talk to you and  _ he didn’t listen _ .” Seongwu chased his kettle corn with some ginger ale. “He’s a coward and a liar.”

“He’s a friend of yours.”

Seongwu gave him a sheepish smile with the smallest traces of guilt, as if Minhyn hadn’t figured that much out a while ago.

“You could’ve just told me.”

Seongwu laughed. “Not while you were on a war path I couldn’t, and then by the time you started liking him  _ he _ started getting difficult, going on and on about how he didn’t want to ruin the thing you guys already had because it was  _ cute _ .”

Minhyun went still, trying to process all of that, his brain having latched on to  _ ‘cute’ _ and not much else. “A thi- our notes?”

“Yeah,” Seongwu scoffed, as if his flirting methods were so much better. “He’s worried if you find out who it is, you’ll stop talking — writing? — to him.” Here he sighed, previous tension draining from his shoulders, leaving him slouching lazily. “Whatever you two have been writing about, he likes it.”

Minhyun thought of their notes, their conversations on everything and anything. He didn’t know the other boy’s face, but he knew what music he liked, his favorite foods, the snacks he ate too much of, the habits he liked and the ones he was trying to break. And, in turn, he knew more about Minhyun than he’d ever outright told anyone before. He knew that Minhyun’s allergies made him a picky eater, he knew that Minhyun preferred fall and winter to the sticky heat of spring and summer, he even knew that Minhyun didn’t know what he wanted to do in college, that he didn’t know what path would make him happiest. Something not even his close friends knew. Something that was almost easier to say to a near stranger.

“I like it too,” he eventually admitted, voice quiet. “I just wanted to talk to him in person, know what he sounds like, what he looks like. He’s so good at chess and it’s just so  _ easy _ to write to him. I don’t find people like that all that often, Seongwu.”

Seongwu put the bowl of kettle corn on the floor, shuffling closer to Minhyun, tugging on one of the blanket ends until Minhyun let him in. He tangled their limbs and wrapped his arms around Minhyun’s shoulders in a comforting hug, like they were ten again and not eighteen on the cusp of adulthood. 

“If I told you it’s someone you almost got in a fight with last year?”

Minhyun buried his head under Seongwu’s chin, trying to make himself as small as possible. “Wouldn’t care.”

Seongwu laughed, pressing his cheek to Minhyun’s hair. “Sure about that?”

“Last year wasn’t good for me. I got mad about a lot of things I shouldn’t have.” 

It’d been the year that everything Minhyun had been holding in, bottling up, had come to a boil and exploded outward. He’d been sharp, and rude, and wholly unpleasant to so many people, his own friends included. Minhyun didn’t like to think about it, knowing that there was still fallout from it even now, coming through in the way a good portion of the underclassmen regarded him as someone to be wary of.

“Mm,” Seongwu hummed, “Even about what happened to the Chess Club’s room?”

“Still stings, but what’s done is done,” Minhyun shrugged. “‘Sides, it was just a couple of drunk sophomores.”

“You chewed them out at the time,” Seongwu snorted lightly .

Minhyun felt embarrassment at his past actions creep up his neck and twist in his stomach. “I shouldn’t have.” He paused, biting the inside of his cheek. “To be honest I don’t particularly remember the ones who did it. Like their names.”

“You? Mr. Perfect memory?” Seongwu teased.

Minhyun pinched his side, the other boy letting out an offended yelp. “I told you, it wasn’t a good time for me.”

Seongwu groaned. “Alright, alright, no need to attack me. Geez. Can’t blame me for being at least a little surprised by that. Do you even remember their faces then?”

The heat that had been subsiding on his neck spread up to Minhyun’s cheeks like wildfire. “Yes.

“What was that? You’re talking too low.”

“I said yes,” Minhyun grumbled.

He didn’t need to see Seongwu’s smile — he’d have to move to do that and he was way too comfortable, basking in the physical affection his friend so rarely gave out — to know that it was there on his face. “You remember their faces but not their names?”

“It’s perfectly normal.”

“Uhuh, sure. Didn’t think you’d be into guys taller and broader than you.”

“There’s nothing wrong with wanting to feel small,” Minhyun defended, the words out of his mouth before he could stop them.

“Ahah! I knew i- ack!”

Seongwu blinked up at Minhyun from the floor. “You pushed me!” he gasped.

“We’re not talking about this anymore,” Minhyun declared, abandoning the blanket Seongwu had dragged with him in his fall, wrapping the remaining one tighter around himself and flopping back onto his side with a small  _ whump _ .   
  


“I could’ve  _ died _ .”

“Go get me some orange juice,” Minhyun told him, unrepentant, already looking back to the tv.

“Minhyun,” Seongwu whined.

“And my phone from where it’s charging too while you’re at it, so we can order in. Thanks, you’re the best.”

“Ughhh.”

  
  


♖

  
  


Winter break passed in a food filled haze of sleepovers and lazy hangouts. Jihoon and Woojin lived an hour away from Minhyun and Seongwu, the only other ones who lived in the same state. New England was generally a small area, drive more than two or three hours and you’d cross state lines, but the fact that Dongho was in Massachusetts, Minki in Upstate New York, and Jonghyun out of the country with his family meant that, ultimately, he was either out with the two younger boys or living his best sloth life with Seongwu.

It was a beautiful stress-free three weeks, and by the end of it, Minhyun had nearly forgotten the situation he was returning to at school. It all came rushing back the second he stopped in front of his dorm room, though, light laughter at the story Minki had been telling cutting off with a startled hiccup that nearly had him choking on his own spit.

“Is that what I think it is?” Minki asked with rising glee.

An odd gurgle that could roughly be translated to,  _ “Oh my god”, _ bubbled up Minhyun’s throat in reply.

There was a split second of both boys staring at their dorm room’s door before Minki was lunging forward and Minhyun was letting out a strangled yelp.

“No!” he shouted, going for Minki first, tackling his friend to the ground before surging back to his feet in a display of impressive athleticism — thank fuck for the athletic center— and snatching the pretty, pink, rook shaped card from the door. He spun around, facing a shocked Minki with wide eyes, the card pressed firmly to his chest and safely in his hands. “Sorry,” Minhyun blurted, “but it’s not for you.”

“You-” 

Minhyun didn’t let him finish, darting off with another,  _ “Sorry!”, _ left behind in his wake, along with his suitcase and a fair number of curious stares.

He slipped between other students just arriving, dodging luggage and waving arms, not stopping until he’d found himself a quiet corner he could hunker down in. Heart beating hard in his chest, Minhyun pressed his back to the wall and slid to the floor, taking a deep breath before opening the card.

  
  


_ Hi, _

_ I wanted to start out by saying sorry. I didn’t leave for break early. I lied. I kind of really like you and just...panicked? I didn’t want to ruin things before they even got the chance to start by meeting you in person before I could explain myself. Seongwu told me I was an idiot for that. _

_ I’d really rather explain things to you in person, so if you still wanted to meet, I’ll be at the board before dinner at five. _

_ D.K. _

  
  


Minhyun let out a shaky breath. His whole face felt warm, his mouth dry, body floaty. The first thought that flashed through his head was that he was acting like a teenage girl with a crush, but then he remembered that, first off, he  _ was _ technically a teen with a crush, and second, his sister had been popular when she was his age and wouldn’t have melted like this over an anonymous confession. He remembered what she’d been like. High school Sujin would’ve eaten Minhyun alive. 

As it was, though, Minhyun wasn’t Sujin.

He shifted around, wiggling his phone out of his pocket. There were messages from his friends, including one very ominous one from Minki that promised payback for their little tussle, which he would read later, after all of  _ this _ was resolved. He checked the time. 

_ Almost 4:30… _

Minhyun bit his lip. He read the card again, running his fingers over the edges of the thick cardstock, jagged and uneven where scissors had struggled cutting the paper into the proper shape. A giddy sort of anticipation fluttered in his chest, filling his lungs and flowing warm through his veins.

It wouldn’t hurt to be a little early, right?

  
  


♖

  
  


There was already someone waiting there when Minhyun arrived five minutes later, sitting on the bench across from the board Minhyun favored for study breaks. He had his hands tucked into the pockets of his jacket, shoulders hunched from the cold, hood up over his head. His knees were bouncing, either a nervous tick or a way to keep warm. Minhyun couldn’t blame him either way, his own hands curling and uncurling at his sides, nerves making him jittery.

When he was close enough to be heard, he cleared his throat. “I thought I’d be early.”

The other boy jumped, turning wide eyes on Minhyun and-  _ oh _ . He understood why Seongwu had been tight-lipped about the boy’s identity, now.

“You’re one of the two who trashed the classroom the Chess Club uses last year,” Minhyun said before he could stop himself.

It wasn’t an accusation, there was no anger in Minhyun’s voice, but the other boy winced anyway. He stood, and Minhyun was reminded all over again of why the boy had caught his eye in the first place last year in the dean’s office, despite his anger at the time.

Tall, almost as tall as him, with broad shoulders and a friendly face that made Minhyun want to care for him. He’d never realized Seongwu was friends with him.

He must’ve said so out loud because the boy let out a sheepish laugh, shifting awkwardly where he stood. “Yeah, uh, we had classes together. Roomed together too, actually.”

_ Never mentioned that last year, _ Minhyun thought, biting back a huff.

“I, um, actually wanted to start out by apologizing for last year,” the boy continued, snapping Minhyun out of his thoughts. “Jaehwan and I were drunk and talking shit and one thing just led to another and-” He cut himself off, biting his lip a distracting pink. “I’m really sorry.”

“What’s your name?” Minhyun blurted, taking a lurching step forward, immediately flushing red from his head to his toes. The boy stared at him, clearly startled. “I mean,” Minhyun ducked his head, willing the ground to just open up and swallow him, “I still don’t know it and it feels kind of weird having this kind of conversation without it, especially since you clearly know mine.”

He’d trailed off a bit at the end, embarrassment choking him up.  _ Maybe it’s not too late to just leave and become a hermit. _ Minhyun was half a second away from doing just that when he heard a sound and the careful shuffle of feet over grass.

“It’s Daniel.” Minhyun glanced up and was met with smiling eyes and an amused grin. Daniel had taken a cautious step closer. “Seongwu said you probably didn’t remember us. Guess I should be glad about that, considering how I didn’t exactly make the best first impression.”

“I did remember you,” Minhyun disagreed, taking his own unconscious step forward. “I just didn’t remember your name. Would’ve been hard to forget you.”

Daniel scuffed the toe of his shoe against the ground, huffing out a small self-deprecating laugh. “Because of what we did?”

Minhyun cleared his throat. He knew he was blushing even as he said, “Not exactly.”

An adorable little frown made its way onto Daniel’s face, confusion clear in how he tilted his head to the side.  _ Oh god, he looks like a giant puppy. _ It lasted for all of a second before something seemed to click in Daniel’s head — a memory by the looks of it — and an almost smug smile took over.

It was, Minhyun thought, mouth running dry, a  _ very _ attractive look on him.

“That kind of explains why Seongwu was so pushy about me approaching you in person.”

Minhyun closed his eyes, a slow breath hissed out from between clenched teeth. “I’m gonna kill him.”

Daniel laughed, face scrunching and whole body shaking with the action. It was such a genuinely happy expression on him it had Minhyun unconsciously smiling to match.

“If it weren’t for him all this wouldn’t have happened, though,” he chuckled, taking a big, exaggerated step forward. Like a chess piece advancing turn by turn. “Plus, I’d kind of miss his Playstation if you got rid of him.”

Minhyun blinked. “He has a Playstation?”

Daniel’s mouth opened in a perfect ‘o’. “Oops?”

“I-” Minhyun shook his head. One step. Two. “Nevermind, just-” he licked his lips, stalling, not missing the way Daniel’s eyes darted down to follow the motion, “I accept your apology. And, I’m happy to finally get to talk to you.” Minhyun took a steadying breath. “I’ve been wanting to talk to you.”

Daniel smiled. “Me too. I’ve been wanting to hear you say in person that you’ve watched every episode of the original Star Trek since you mentioned it.”

“It pioneered the space opera genre,” Minhyun sniffed, tipping his chin up. “It’s a classic.”

“I know,” Daniel said, all cheek. He stepped square into Minhyun’s personal space.  _ Check _ . “Wanna talk about it over dinner?”

Minhyun laughed, flustered but so very very happy. “I think I’d like that.”

_ Checkmate. _

  
  


♖

  
  


“You know,” Minhyun started, playing idly with Daniel’s hair as they lounged in his living room, Daniel having made himself comfortable in Minhyun’s house shortly after school let out and summer began. “You never told me why you started playing against me in the first place.”

“Mm?” Daniel mumbled, not bothering to raise his head from where it was pillowed on Minhyun’s chest, his entire body splayed out over him like a heavy blanket. It was too warm for the summer heat — even with airconditioning it was still  _ hot _ — but it was Daniel so… “Wha’d’you mean?”

“You said it was another alcohol backed dare, but you didn’t ever mention what the dare was, or why.” 

If Daniel hadn’t been laying on top of him like a pampered, overgrown lap dog, Minhyun would’ve never noticed the way the younger boy stiffened for a second before squirming around like he did when he was about to try and dodge something. Unfortunately for Daniel, he’d decided Minhyun was the best seat in the house and now had to reap the consequences of that decision.

“Daniel?”

“It was stupid.”

“I’m sure,” Minhyun snorted. He couldn’t imagine any drunken bet or dare concocted by Jaehwan and Seongwu to be anything but.

Daniel sighed, his whole body sagging, weight pressing firmly onto Minhyun. 

Minhyun held out all of two seconds before caving in and stroking a hand up and down Daniel’s back. His fingers pressed into the soft, thin cotton of the sleep shirt Daniel was still wearing, despite it being nearly one in the afternoon ( _ “But it’s  _ summer _ , Min. What’s the point if we don’t get to be sloths all day?” _ ).

“C’mon Daniel. It can’t be that bad.”

Daniel whined. “But it was  _ stupid _ .”

“ _ Niel _ ,” Minhyun whined right back, matching his tone with a teasing smile.

Daniel raised his head, propping his chin on Minhyun’s chest. He was pouting.  _ So cute. _ It made Minhyun want to kiss him, and, because they’d done much more in the five months they’d been dating and he  _ could _ , he did.

“Fine,” Daniel huffed. He was still pouting but there was a hint of a smile twitching at the corner of his lips now. “We  _ might’ve _ been talking? About you? And I  _ might’ve _ said that you weren’t really as impressive as you seemed. Seongwu accused me of having a crush, I said I didn’t, and one thing led to another and ta-da,” he raised the hand not tucked between Minhyun’s body and the couch to wiggle his fingers, “Here we are.”

“Mm,” Minhyun hummed. “Did you?”

Daniel blinked sleepily at him. “Did I what?”

“Have a crush on me.”

Pink looked good on Daniel’s skin, especially when Minhyun was the cause of it.

“I- it- does it matter?”

Minhyun smiled. “Just curious.”

Daniel stared at him for a heartbeat before snorting. “You’re impossible. We’re supposed to be enjoying our time together before you go off to college and this is really what you want to talk about?”

“Why not?” Minhyun asked with an innocent tilt of his head. “Besides, I’m going to school one state away, not leaving the country. Stop acting like you’re never going to see me again.”

“Same difference,” Daniel said with a small, half wave of his hand.

“It’s really not,” Minhyun snorted, “and you’re dodging my question.”

Daniel made a noise of complaint, pressing his forehead back to Minhyun’s chest. When he raised his head again it was with a mildly put out, but mostly fond, expression. “What do you want to hear? That I thought you were stuck up but hot and thought I could beat you — which I did, by the way — and I may have had an itsy bitsy crush before this all started?”

Minhyun preened, tactfully ignoring the bit about him being beaten (not because it was true, obviously, that would be  _ “childish” _ ) and leaned forward to peck Daniel on the forehead, on the tip of his nose, and then finally on his lips. “Yes. That’s exactly what I wanted to hear.” Another kiss. “Thank you.” Another, pressed to Daniel’s smile. “You’re an absolute doll.”

Daniel giggled, wriggling up just enough to tuck his face into Minhyun’s neck. “God you’re weird.”

“And yet you like me anyway.”

“Yeah,” Daniel sighed, smile pressed against Minhyun’s skin. “Guess I do.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed, kudos and comments are always welcome and appreciated!! Also feel free to come say hi on twitter, I'm [@nu_exooo](https://twitter.com/nu_exooo)!


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